Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138 BC-78 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who served as a consul in 88 and 80 BC and as dictator from 82 to 81 BC. After two civil wars with Gaius Marius, he restored the primacy of the Roman Senate and limited the power of the tribunes, and he inspired Julius Caesar with his seizure of power through military force.

Early life
Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born in Rome, Latium, Roman Republic in 138 BC, and he came from an impoverished patrician family. He received a good education and was fluent in Greek, and he later increased his wealth through inheritances. In 107 BC, he became quaestor to consul Gaius Marius during the Jugurthine War in Numidia, and Sulla captured the Numidian king Jugurtha in 106 BC. In 104 BC, Sulla again served on Marius' staff during his war against the invading Cimbri and Teutones, and he served as a legate under Quintus Lutatius Catulus. He became Praetor urbanus in 97 BC and proconsul of Cilicia in 95 BC; a year later, he repulsed the invading Armenian king Tigranes the Great from Cappadocia. That same year, he returned to Rome, where he affiliated himself with the Optimates in opposition to Marius, the leader of the Populares.

Rise to power
In 91 BC, the Social War broke out when Rome's Latin allies rose in rebellion due to the Republic's refusal to grant them citizenship rights. He outshone Marius during the suppression of the rebellions, capturing the Hirpini capital of Aeclanum in 89 BC. In 88 BC, Sulla was elected consul for the first time, and he was awarded a grass crown in recognition of his victories. As consul, he planned to leave for the east to fight against King Mithridates VI of Pontus, but, at the last minute, the Senate withdrew Sulla's command and gave it to Marius. Sulla, angered by this betrayal, took six of his most loyal legions and marched on Rome, the first general to cross the city limits with his army. The city's armed gladiators were unable to resist the Roman soldiers, and only three slaves accepted Marius' offer to obtain freedom in exchange for fighting Sulla. Marius and his followers were forced to flee the city, and Sulla proscribed Marius and his followers as enemies of the state. Marius fled to Africa, and, when Sulla was away fighting in Asia, he returned to Rome and was restored to power, only to die two weeks later.

In 87 BC, Sulla landed at Dyrrachium in Illyria and sacked Athens, which was ruled by the Pontic puppet ruler Aristion. Blood literally flowed through the streets of Athens, and he burnt the port of Piraeus to the ground. He then advanced into Boeotia to take on Archelaus' Pontic army, inflicting a horrific defeat on the vastly-superior Pontic army at Chaeronea in 86 BC. He defeated a new Pontic army at Orchomenus in 85 BC, determining that the fate of Asia Minor lay with Rome. Sulla proceeded to operate in the Aegean Sea to recapture the lost Greek islands there, and Sulla proceeded to offer mild peace terms to Mithridates: Mithridates would give up his conquests and Roman prisoners, provide a 70-ship fleet to Sulla along with supplies, and play a tribute of 2,000-3,000 gold talents; in exchange, Mithridates could keep his throne and his original title of "friend of the Roman people". Sulla proceeded to have his veterans scatter throughout Asia Minor and extort the wealth of local communities, distracting them from the lenient peace terms, which had greatly upset them. In 84 BC, Sulla's opponent Lucius Cornelius Cinna was stoned to death by his own men in Rome, and, in 83 BC, Sulla once again marched on Rome. On 1 November 82 BC, Sulla and his new ally Marcus Licinius Crassus decisively defeated the Marians at the Battle of the Colline Gates, and Sulla stood as master of Rome.

Dictatorship
At the end of 82 BC, Sulla became dictator of Rome, and he issued a series of proscriptions, proscribing 80 people without consulting a magistrate; for the next two days, he made 220 more proscriptions each day, and 1,500 senators and equites and 7,500 others were executed. The purge of Marius' supporters went on for several months, and helping or sheltering a proscribed person was punishable by death; those who killed the targets would receive 2 talents for each kill. As family members were not excluded from punishment, and slaves were not excluded from rewards, family members turned on each other and killed each other, all while Sulla was able to obtain the confiscated property of his wealthy victims. He spared Cinna's son-in-law Julius Caesar due to the intervention of several of his own supporters, but he later acknowledged that Caesar would be a threat, saying, "In this Caesar there are several Mariuses".

Sulla proceeded to increase the size of the Senate from 300 to 600 members by increasing the numbers of magistrates elected annually and by ensuring that all newly elected quaestors received automatic Senate membership. Near the end of 81 BC, due to his traditionalist sentiments, Sulla resigned his dictatorship, disbanded his legions, and re-established normal consular government, and he was elected consul in 80 BC and was known to walk through the Forum unguarded and to explain his actions to any person who asked him. After his second consulship, he withdrew to his country villa near Puteoli, spending time with his male lover Metrobius, an actor. He died in 78 BC, and his funeral was the largest in Rome until that of Augustus.